What key role did Matthew Boulton provide to James Watt starting in 1775?
Answer
Financial backing, workshop space, and business acumen for large-scale manufacturing
Although James Watt possessed the necessary technical genius, transforming his invention into a market-ready product required resources beyond his individual capacity. In 1775, he entered into a critical commercial partnership with Matthew Boulton, a wealthy industrialist. Boulton supplied the vital capital necessary to finance the production of the new, more complex engines. Furthermore, Boulton provided established workshop facilities and significant business expertise, which were essential for manufacturing the engines reliably and scaling up production beyond a workshop model to meet burgeoning industrial demand.
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